We Control the Horizontal... and the Vertical...
The Following is a Television Rant, inspired by discussion overheard in my Office Cafeteria:
When I was a kid… my parents watched my TV consumption quite carefully. This is not to say that I didn’t watch A LOT of TV… but they were restrictive as to what I watched. It’s all within reason to make toddlers stick to Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and the like… and I had a babysitter as an infant who watched so the Price is Right with such regularity that I’m told “Ba Bakka” (Bob Barker) was an early part of my vocabulary. There were no shortage of programs I WAS allowed to watch, like Square One, Reading Rainbow, and Carmen Sandiego, (Ghost Writer was also acceptable, but it bored me half to death,) and some of my father’s Science Fiction… mostly, if memory serves, I enjoyed Quantum Leap. (I found ST:TNG horridly lame.) I remember having a fondness for Diagnosis Murder, and Murder she Wrote, and sitting with the family to watch Touched by an Angel, and later it’s spinoff “Promised Land.” And watching countless hours of Nickalodeon shows like Space Cases, Hey Dude, Clarissa Explains it All, and the Secret world of Alex Mack. I mean there was a laundry list of forbidden programs, like Ren and Stimpy, or Salute Your Shorts, and The Simpsons were strictly off limits. They said too much TV would make me stupid. I don’t blame them really.
The point is… that these same people who so many years ago strictly regulated Television to Prevent Brain Rot… now willingly plunk themselves down in front of the Television to willingly and eagerly consume mass quantities of the stupidest possible Television Programming in Existence, with the possible exception of things like Soap Operas and Televangelist.
They LOVE reality TV.
Survivor, American Idol, The Apprentice… they won’t watch Fear Factor, as it’s apparently disgusting (duh,) but they think there’s some value in watching programs like The Batchelor. They’re all rotting their brains out little by little and they seem to enjoy it. It’s not just my parents…. It’s a great portion of the adult community. There is a massive epidemic of otherwise intelligent people who think The Simple Life, is just too funny, and Survival of the Richest is so damn new and Innovative. They’re all sucked into this bizarre vortex of lack of Television Judgment, and it’s frightening.
So take this warning: If I get one more bit of advice prefaced with “Dr. Phill Says…” someone’s gonna be stabbed with a fork.
8^S
When I was a kid… my parents watched my TV consumption quite carefully. This is not to say that I didn’t watch A LOT of TV… but they were restrictive as to what I watched. It’s all within reason to make toddlers stick to Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and the like… and I had a babysitter as an infant who watched so the Price is Right with such regularity that I’m told “Ba Bakka” (Bob Barker) was an early part of my vocabulary. There were no shortage of programs I WAS allowed to watch, like Square One, Reading Rainbow, and Carmen Sandiego, (Ghost Writer was also acceptable, but it bored me half to death,) and some of my father’s Science Fiction… mostly, if memory serves, I enjoyed Quantum Leap. (I found ST:TNG horridly lame.) I remember having a fondness for Diagnosis Murder, and Murder she Wrote, and sitting with the family to watch Touched by an Angel, and later it’s spinoff “Promised Land.” And watching countless hours of Nickalodeon shows like Space Cases, Hey Dude, Clarissa Explains it All, and the Secret world of Alex Mack. I mean there was a laundry list of forbidden programs, like Ren and Stimpy, or Salute Your Shorts, and The Simpsons were strictly off limits. They said too much TV would make me stupid. I don’t blame them really.
The point is… that these same people who so many years ago strictly regulated Television to Prevent Brain Rot… now willingly plunk themselves down in front of the Television to willingly and eagerly consume mass quantities of the stupidest possible Television Programming in Existence, with the possible exception of things like Soap Operas and Televangelist.
They LOVE reality TV.
Survivor, American Idol, The Apprentice… they won’t watch Fear Factor, as it’s apparently disgusting (duh,) but they think there’s some value in watching programs like The Batchelor. They’re all rotting their brains out little by little and they seem to enjoy it. It’s not just my parents…. It’s a great portion of the adult community. There is a massive epidemic of otherwise intelligent people who think The Simple Life, is just too funny, and Survival of the Richest is so damn new and Innovative. They’re all sucked into this bizarre vortex of lack of Television Judgment, and it’s frightening.
So take this warning: If I get one more bit of advice prefaced with “Dr. Phill Says…” someone’s gonna be stabbed with a fork.
8^S